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Lucas Gallo- Live Review

It is a Thursday night at Penuche's in Concord NH. My favorite bar tender, Vickie, rolls a PBR can down the bar to me. Yes, rolls. I think I am special and she invented a new way of serving beer just for me. I am soon corrected and learn that she does this for lots of people. I get sad and I sit back to wait for Lucas Gallo to take the mic and play a solo set. The Bruins playoff game is playing on the TV's and the volume is at full blast.

Lucas takes the stage and starts playing some tunes, coming out a Allen and Heath board with some nice main speakers. The first song almost has a Dave Mathews flavor to it. The tune is not Dave, but the circular riff is very much reminiscent of a style Dave Mathews made famous on "under the table". Gallo's vocals are not Dave though. Imagine Tom Waits. Now, imagine Waits with a hat. Now, imagine him smoking a cigarette that is maybe menthol instead of unfiltered. Now, picture him sitting on a chair in Penuche's. That is the tone of Gallo's voice.

"To spoil it for you, someone wins the game" Gallo jokes, as people cheer for the Bruins. It is obvious that a portion of the crowd is here to watch the game and not Gallo. Except for some dude in a flannel shirt. I hate this guy. No matter where I move to sit, he moves to stand right in front of me. I know, music..... you don't need to see music, just to hear. However, when your sight line is continuously blocked by a guy in a flannel shirt, you get upset. He loves the music and I hate him for it.

"I don't know if you know, but a bruins game is on. Do we have any hockey fans in the house?" Gallo jokes again before ripping into a tune. Gallo has a technique of picking and using pull offs much in the way Robert Johnson started a lot of his 32 songs. He uses his rhythm guitar playing as a backing for subtle and melodic solos.

Gallo's set is soon over and the Bruins fans cheer. I am not sure what they are cheering for, maybe a goal, maybe a fight, maybe they are cheering cause they are drunk. I am cheering too. Not for the bruins, but for a fantastic show... I am also cheering cause the guy in the flannel shirt has moved.